Zain's Guide to Overthinking Everything

Early Christian Heresies Throughout the history of Christianity, various theological controversies and debates have given rise to heretical beliefs that deviate from the orthodox teachings of the faith. These heresies often concern profound questions regarding the nature and person of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, and the relationship between the divine and the human. Understanding these heresies is important for gaining insights into the development and refinement of Christian doctrine. In this exploration, we will delve into several ancient Christian heresies, their founders, and the core beliefs they entail. Arianism: Founder: Arius (256-336 CE) Belief: Arianism taught that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was a created being and therefore subordinate to God the Father. According to Arius, there was a time when the Son did not exist.   Gnosticism: Founders: Various Gnostic teachers (1st-3rd centuries CE) Belief: Gnosticism encompassed various beliefs, but in general, it held that salvatio

God and Aseity      Can God not be a se , or lack the property of aseity? Aseity is the attribute whereby a being is said to exist of or from itself. A necessary being exists in all possible worlds. Therefore, it is an analytic a priori that is impossible for the necessary being not to exist. I would argue that aseity is a necessary attribute of God and to lack aseity entails that that being cannot be God.      In the traditional conception of the Trinity, only the Father is a se since the other two persons, the Son and Holy Spirit are eternally begotten or proceed from the Father. If this were the case, then the divine nature does not entail aseity as each of the persons are fully God yet two of the three persons do not have the attribute in question. Rather it is a hypostatic property of the Father alone. However, this brings the question, would there be another essence, an a se essence, which is not the divine essence? For example, if there is nothing special about aseity, there c

Islam and Divine Simplicity *This was originally from my blog post, Notes on the Basics of Islam, but I decided to edit it out and make it its own separate post.* *Perhaps it is best to refer to my post, Overview of Athari Metaphysics, as a more in-depth part 2 of this post*      In terms of theology, does Islam affirm divine simplicity like the Christians (Catholics and most Protestants) do? Divine simplicity is the idea that God's attributes are identical to each other in His reality. Attributes, for example, are love, wrath, knowledge, and power. Any attribute that is predicated to God is identical to one another. For two things to be identical to one another they must be the same thing just as Superman is identical to Clark Kent, they are two names that are referring to the same being. Augustine, a major Christian theologian, in his book, On the Trinity , claims,  “But God is truly called in manifold ways, great, good, wise, blessed, true, and whatsoever other thing seems to be

                                                                       Wills in the Trinity and Incarnation             How many wills are present in the Trinity? Some claim that there is one will amongst the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, while others claim each person has their own will but their wills are necessarily in agreement with each other. One can define personhood in the Trinity as distinct centers of knowledge, love, will, and action in an individual mental substance with intentionality and consciousness. With this definition, it seems to be the case that will is a property of personhood rather than nature. To account for the change in personal identity overtime, it is posited that man has a soul. Therefore, the personhood of a human is synonymous with their soul. When it comes to the Incarnation, one must ask if Christ had one or two wills. When discussing both the Trinity and the Incarnation there are four possible options, it is either that:   1. The Trinit

The Dialectical History of Religion Welcome to the intriguing world of the Dialectical History of Religion! To know what a dialectic is, refer to my blog post on Hegel. This unique framework traces the evolution of the major world religious thought through a series of dialectical relationships, unveiling the interplay between opposing ideas and their harmonious synthesis. Divided into three branches, this historical journey invites us to explore the dynamic nature of human spirituality. This is only a draft and much work is needed to be done! Let me know where I can improve in the comments below.   1. First Branch: Thesis: Eclectic Spirituality Antithesis: Nihilism Synthesis: Animism Thesis: Animism Antithesis: Materialism Synthesis: Shamanism Thesis: Shamanism Antithesis: General Atheism Synthesis: General Deism Thesis: General Deism Antithesis: General Polytheism Synthesis: Monotheism* Thesis: Monotheism Antithesis: Ancient Paganism Synthesis: Judaism Thesis: Judaism Antithesis: Anci

 The Problem of Hell – An Islamic Response      In truth, the question you propound to us is no small one, nor such that but small harm will follow if it meets with insufficient treatment. For by the force of the question, we are at first sight compelled to accept one or other of two erroneous opinions, and either to say, “God is unjust”, which is impious and absurd, or not to acknowledge the existence of Hell, which is unlawful. The argument which you state is something like this: such suffering is unjust since no finite sin deserves infinite punishment, especially so severe a punishment, and thus an all-good, just God could not inflict hell on the damned; such a picture of Hell undercuts the Abrahamic view of a loving God; and any putative revelation that includes such a doctrine be self-defeating.       The Islamic view of Hell describes it as a punishment due for disbelievers (unwarranted rejection of Islam) and unforgiven sins. Punishment in hell is everlasting for disbelievers an

The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Faith of the Church      The doctrine of the Trinity is at the heart of the Christian conception of God. However, there can be misunderstanding of what this doctrine entails regarding the nature of the being of God and the three persons of the Trinity. According to the doctrine, God is one divine being who exists eternally in three distinct but co-eternal and co-equal persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, and yet there is only one God. The Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. They are three distinct persons who share the same divine nature. While some have struggled to reconcile the concept of one God in three persons with the idea of monotheism, the doctrine of the Trinity is an essential aspect of orthodoxy by the majority of Christian denominations.       The nature that the three persons of the

 Notes on Islam Part 2 - Preservation “It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and it is certainly We Who will preserve it.” (15:9)      The Quran has been preserved in its multi-formic nature. How well is the Quran attested in manuscripts that are dated to the first century Hijri , or after the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina? Textual scholars look to three main things to date a manuscript: paleography, orthography, and radiocarbon dating. Paleography looks at letter shapes, or how words are written. Orthography looks at spelling conventions. Radiocarbon dating gives age estimates for carbon-based materials. The first Islamic century corresponds roughly from the years 622-722 CE or the 7th century CE. There are over two dozen confirmed first-century Hijri /7th century CE manuscripts of the Quran extant, or surviving today and this number is only increasing. The most famous of these is Ms. Mingana 1572a or famously known as the Birmingham Manuscript wh